Category Archives: Satan – The Original

4 “Behold, as for the proud one,His soul is not right within him;But the righteous will live by his faith.5 “Furthermore, wine betrays the haughty man,So that he does not stay at home.He enlarges his appetite like Sheol,And he is like death, never satisfied.He also gathers to himself all nationsAnd collects to himself all peoples.

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One characteristic of true narcissists / those with insolent pride is that there is no limit to their desire for being exalted by others. They are the ultimate “kingdom builders”, with the goal of showing their “greatness”. The only thing limiting them is their opportunity. That is why classic narcissists like Hitler and Napoleon would could be relatively obscure, but when given the opportunity would move quickly to create the biggest kingdom possible – at the expense of many other people, of course.

As the ultimate narcissist, this very much applies to Satan. Satan’s goal is to gather to himself all nations, and collect to himself all people – to himself and away from God – even though Satan knows full well that those people will be utterly destroyed as a result. (See here for the first step in not falling into Satan’s trap)

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Narcissism is the modern colloquial term for what the Bible calls “insolent pride” – see here

Narcissists (or those with insolent pride, see here), frequently “use” others as tools to achieve their goals, and then once the narcissists have gotten what they want, they easily discard the people they used without any further consideration. An example is how the narcissistic Pharisees (see here and here) treated Judas after Judas had betrayed Jesus.

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Matthew 27

Now when morning came, all the chief priests and the elders of the people conferred together against Jesus to put Him to death;2 and they bound Him, and led Him away and delivered Him to Pilate the governor.

3 Then when Judas, who had betrayed Him, saw that He had been condemned, he felt remorse and returned the thirtypieces of silver to the chief priests and elders,4 saying, “I have sinned by betraying innocent blood.” But they said, “What is that to us? See to that yourself!”5 And he threw the pieces of silver into the temple sanctuary and departed; and he went away and hanged himself.6 The chief priests took the pieces of silver and said, “It is not lawful to put them into the temple treasury, since it is the price of blood.”7 And they conferred together and with the money bought the Potter’s Field as a burial place for strangers.8 For this reason that field has been called the Field of Blood to this day.9 Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “Andthey took the thirty pieces of silver, the price of the one whose price had been set by the sons of Israel;10 andthey gave them for the Potter’s Field, as the Lord directed me.”

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In this case, after the Pharisees (chief priests and elders) were more than happy to use Judas as a tool to get what they wanted (the destruction of Jesus), they did not care the slightest about what happened to Judas. He was just someone to be used as means to their end. This is consistent with insolent pride – looking down on others as of much less importance, and therefore merely to be used and then easily discarded with no further consideration of their needs.

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This principle has a second application in this case. Judas was not only a tool of the Pharisees, but was also a tool of Satan in Satan’s quest to destroy Jesus. Satan (a “narcissist” filled with insolent pride, see here) also uses people for his evil purposes, and then drives them to their destruction.

* Narcissist is the modern colloquial term for what the Bible calls “insolent pride”. Please see here for an explanation.

Satan is the original and most clear example of a Narcissist / One with insolent pride. (See here for an explanation on why Satan was the original narcissist). By understanding Satan’s insolent pride and his narcissistic traits, we can get another glimpse into the characteristics of narcissists. Here is a partial list of Satan’s narcissistic traits:

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His primary goal is to be exalted and worshipped

Isaiah 14:12-14

12 “How you have fallen from heaven,O star of the morning, son of the dawn!You have been cut down to the earth,You who have weakened the nations!13 “But you said in your heart,‘I will ascend to heaven;I will raise my throne above the stars of God,And I will sit on the mount of assemblyIn the recesses of the north.14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;I will make myself like the Most High.’

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Luke 4:6-8

6 And the devil said to Him, “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

1 Timothy 3:6

6 and not a new convert, so that he will not become conceited and fall into the condemnationincurred by the devil.

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He is a liar – he lies all the time

John 8:44

44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”

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He is lawless (rebellious)

1 John 3:4-8

4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness……..8 the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

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He is a schemer

2 Corinthians 2:11

11 so that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes.

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He sometimes acts with a false appearance of righteousness

2 Corinthians 11:14

14 No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.

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He tries to portray a (false) image of power

2 Thessalonians 2:9

9 that is, the one whose coming is in accord with the activity of Satan, with all power and signs and false wonders,

[The antichrist and false prophet will come with a show of power as satan’s agent, “empowered by satan”. They will try to deceive the world with counterfeit acts. But its a false image of power. God will show the real power when His top angel grabs satan, binds him with a chain, and tosses him into the bottomless pit]

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He is a destroyer, and will take as many people as he can down with him

Revelation 12:9

9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

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Revelation 12:12

12 For this reason, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them. Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has come down to you, having great wrath, knowing that he has only a short time.”

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He seeks out “targets”

1 Peter 5:8

8 Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

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He flees when resisted

James 4:7

7 Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you.

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He tries to ensnare his targets

1 Timothy 3:7

7 And he must have a good reputation with those outside the church, so that he will not fall into reproach and the snare of the devil.

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He looks for opportune times to make his moves….

Luke 4:13

13 When the devil had finished every temptation, he left Him until an opportune time.

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* Narcissism is the modern colloquial term for what the Bible calls “insolent pride” please see here for an explanation

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Satan is the original narcissist who demonstrates the narcissistic traits of 1. having a primary goal to be exalted and worshipped, 2, being a liar who lies all the time, 3. being lawless and rebellious, 4. being a schemer, 5. sometimes acting under the guise of “righteousness”, 6. trying to portray a false image of power, 7. being a destroyer who takes as many people down with him as possible in his defeat, 8. seeking out his targets, 9. waiting for an opportune time to go after his targets, 10. trying to trap his targets with snares, and 11. fleeing when resisted.

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Isaiah 14:12-14

12 “How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! 13 “But you said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, And I will sit on the mount of assembly In the recesses of the north. 14 ‘I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’

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The above passage is well-known as referring to satan, the devil, lucifer, beelzebub, or one of the other names used for the top angel who out of pride thought he could be be like God. To be in such close proximity to God like satan was, to see God’s power and His glory, and to think that you could be like God — and then attempt to do it – was the height of arrogance. (See here for how according to the Bible, narcissism = insolent pride.)

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Luke 4:6-8

6 And the devil said to Him [Jesus], “I will give You all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish.7 Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.”8 Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”

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Satan also showed his true colors when one of the 3 temptations he presented to Jesus had the goal of Jesus worshipping him. Satan could have offered any other temptation, but was was so proud / arrogant / haughty that he took the moment of Jesus’ physical weakness due to His fasting to take a shot at getting what he really wanted – he wanted to be the #1 being. He wanted somehow to be above God. Narcissists will NEVER stop trying to exalt themselves until they are the #1 in the entire universe. They will use whatever opportunities they are presented with to continue working toward that goal.

Notice in the above passage that satan was claiming that the earth was his to give. It was not in fact his to give, even though he was arrogantly claiming it to be so. Satan knew Psalm 24:1 – and that ultimately the earth and the world belonged to God, not Him. This is a classic Narcissist trait – to co-opt other’s work, authority, rights as their own – as part of their self-aggrandizement and self-exaltation.

The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, The world, and those who dwell in it.

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Further confirming that satan was the original narcissist / one with insolent pride, was the direct link which Jesus made between the Big narcissist (satan) and the earthly narcissists of the time – the Pharisees. (See here and here how we know that the Pharisees were narcissists / filled with insolent pride).

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John 8:44

44 You (Pharisees) are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He (satan, the devil) was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

* Narcissist is the modern colloquial term for what the Bible calls “insolent pride” please see here for an explanation